Halfway There
by Shiyaki
Summary: Curiosity killed the cat, but in this case it found the ghost.


**Disclaimer: **I own neither Harry Potter nor Hikaru no Go and I don't earn any money with this story.

**Author's note**: The bunny held me hostage and pressured me into writing this. So far I'm not sure if this will have a pairing or not, but I'm open to suggestions.

**Rating: T**

**Warning: **may or may not contain slash in the future

* * *

Harry was utterly bored and that was **never** a good thing.

It had all started with a half-hearted attempt at finishing his history of magic summer homework, which had quickly spiralled into frustrated growling at everything goblin – especially their countless bloody wars. Sometimes the brunet wondered how anyone managed to get an O.W.L in the subject, if the teacher only ever droned on about one topic.

When he had been just about ready to throw his quill and parchment into the corner of his room, the brunet had stood up and vacated his desk instead. Afterwards he had spent approximately twenty minutes listlessly leafing through an old edition of Quidditch Monthly and cursing the heavy rain pattering against his window, before leaving his room altogether.

Damn his friends for being busy or even on holiday with their families!

The brunet had been thinking of seeking out his mother for all of two seconds, before remembering that she was currently working on a new charms project and everybody knew it was a self-imposed death sentence to interrupt her. Spending time with his father and godfather didn't even cross his mind, because Harry was currently giving them the cold shoulder and would continue to do so for quite some time. It was their own fault for thinking they could put him into a frilly, pink dress without repercussions. Needless to say, the brunet had carried out a more direct revenge, as well.

His dear uncle Mooney was – to his knowledge – mostly blameless, but the blue moon had left him cranky and exhausted and overall bad company. And uncle Peter, well, he was almost as dull as Binns.

In the end Harry had roamed around the manor in the hopes of finding anything worthwhile to do, which had ultimately led him to one of the bigger storage rooms. Ever since he could remember the door had been locked to keep curious, little Harries out of it. As far as he knew it didn't harbour anything overtly dangerous, but small children and old clutter usually didn't mix too well.

The brunet surreptitiously checked his surroundings and drew his holly wand, when he saw neither portrait, nor family member. A quick - newly learnt - _alohomora_ unlocked the fortunately not magically sealed door and allowed him to enter a room he had never before stepped into.

Harry had barely crossed the threshold, when several light orbs flickered to life, illuminating dusty furniture and boxes upon boxes of yet hidden treasures. Harry's boredom was blown away like sand in the wind, giving way to a burning curiosity.

The first few boxes contained baby clothing and toys. Some of them the brunet knew, others had probably belonged to his parents. All of it was completely uninteresting.

He circled around some gaudy upholstered chairs, raised an eyebrow at a stuffed animal and finally reached a cabinet. It was filled with trophies of different sizes and shapes and rows of yellowed notebooks. Harry traced the engraved name of his maternal grandfather with his fingertips, before he carefully pulled one of the notebooks out. The brunet opened it towards the middle and was greeted with the sight of a grid, lots of circles and numbers. A quick inspection of the other pages and books revealed similar depictions, albeit with different constellations. Those were obviously recordings, but of what, Harry wasn't entirely sure, even with the additional information at the top of each page. What the hell was a 'komi' anyway?

Crouching down revealed a peculiar wooden block at the bottom of the cabinet. Whereas the trophies and note books had seemed normal, muggle even, this block was softly tugging at the tendrils of his magic. It didn't feel malicious, though.

Harry hesitated for about a split-second, before his curiosity won out. Some dusting brought forth a familiar grid, but what really caught the brunet's attention was the bloodstain coating the entire surface.

"_You can see them?_"

Jumping to his feet with a startled yelp, Harry reached for his wand and frantically scanned his surroundings.

"Who's there?" Nothing out of the ordinary was visible, but that didn't mean much to a magical person, especially when one of their family heirlooms was an invisibility cloak.

"_And you can hear my voice?_"

"Dad? Padfood? Is that you?" He certainly wouldn't put it past them to play such a terrible prank on him and really, who else could it be? The wards were supposed to prevent everyone not linked to them from entering the property. Therefore, it couldn't be an intruder... right?

Had he perhaps stumbled upon a boggart or a poltergeist? This was the perfect environment for them, after all.

Biting his bottom lip, Harry stumbled backwards, trying to reach the door without turning away from the estimated direction of the unknown being. Before he managed to make any headway, though, he felt another brush against his magic and then something inside him snapped into place. The following pressure on his mind almost brought him to his knees. The brunet swallowed back the bile that had crept up his throat and stared at the person, that was materialising in front of him, in wide-eyed horror.

His knees felt weak and barely able to support his weight, but Harry pushed through the sensation and ran out of the room like hell hounds were chasing him. As it was the brunet had no idea what was following him through the hallways of Potter Manor.

He finally reached his mother's workspace and burst through the door, all previous reservations blown out of the window. What did he care about her wrath, when he was being possessed or... or _something_.

"MUM!"

Harry saw his mother's hand twitch in surprise, thereby creating a significant ink stain across the parchment in front of her. The brunet winced as the redhead's glare was directed at him, but the guilt was drowned in renewed panic, when the spectre floated into the room. It was talking to him in an increasing frantic pace, in whatever language it spoke. Harry still felt sick to his stomach, but he absolutely refused to give in and throw up.

The hand on his shoulder almost gave him a heart attack, which was quite the feat considering he was barely twelve and thus too young to suffer from such health issues. Lily had somehow got up from her chair and crossed the room without the brunet's notice. By now there wasn't an ounce of anger on her face, instead she almost exuded concern.

"What's wrong, sweetie? Did James and Sirius prank you again? I swear-"

Harry stared first at her, then at the being and then right back at his mother. She wasn't even looking at it, although it was right there in front of them!

"You... you can't see it?" the brunet asked with a faint voice and pointed a trembling finger at the man, woman, _whatever_.

Lily followed his indication with her gaze, which quickly gained a suspicious, displeased quality to it.

"Are _you_ trying to play a prank on _me_, young man? If so, you've chosen the wrong person."

"No, mum! I-I went into the store room on the first floor and I found this thing with blood stains all over it and suddenly there was this ghost or _whatever it is_. Now it's following me and- and it's _right there_. I don't know why you can't see it, but I _swear_ it's here. Please!"

Green eyes met green eyes in a prolonged stare down, before his mother started to cast _homenum revelio_ amongst several other spells he didn't recognise. She was most likely scanning their surroundings, but the frustrated look on her face suggested a lack of findings.

"Does it look like it's going to attack you?"

Harry cautiously redirected his gaze to the spectre, which was floating around in one corner of the room. It was staring at them - him - with puppy dog eyes that would have given Sirius' a run for their money.

"I don't think so."

"Then I'm calling your father."


End file.
